Something's Gotta Give
by LilsurferSango
Summary: When Tristan gets the break he needs to come back to be with Rory, and Jess decides to move back, will Rory be able to choose between them? And what happens when it starts affecting her family and friends? Cliché with a twist...R&R Please
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: If I own Gilmore Girls then pigs can fly… they can't so I don't. 

A/N: I don't really like writing Gilmore Girls fics, so reviews will have to be my inspiration. 

Summary: When Tristan gets the break he needs to come back to be with Rory, and Jess decides to move back, will Rory be able to choose between them? 

~Prologue~ 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tristan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tristan leaned out of his dad's car the wind blowing his freshly washed hair around. Hue was wearing jeans and a plain red shirt.

"Tristan, pull your head back inside or I just might break our deal," his dad threatened. 

He sighed, he had not forgotten. He would be allowed to leave Military School and go back home. Yale had been willing to accept him so he wouldn't be sitting idle all day. He had to check in with his dad at least 2 times a day. He had to record how much money he spent each day and at the end of the week hand it over to his dad for him to check the numbers and make sure they were right. All of this had started when he was doing well in Military school and excelling. 

"We're here." his dad announced as he stepped out of the car. _Home, _Tristan thought. _It would be better if Rory were here. _He brightened up at the thought of just showing up at her dorm room, after of course getting the location form her mom. But then, he became grim as he wondered if she had a boyfriend. _Oh well, he won't be her boyfriend for long if that's the case. _

"Tristan!" his dad yelled from inside the house.

"Coming dad!" he answered getting his things out of the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jess~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jess sat with his back against the wall reading a book. He threw it down in frustration. He couldn't get Rory out of his head. He had screwed things up royally with her. He eyed the phone for the 50th time that day. He was itching to call her and smooth things over. But, he couldn't do it over the phone; he would just tell her he was coming. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Rory~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She stepped inside of her mother's house. It was the weekend already. "Mom? Mom?" she called as she walked into the kitchen. No sign of her. Rory was wearing a pale blue shirt and jeans.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tristan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey dad, I'm going to go for a drive to stretch my legs," he told his dad.

"Fine, but be back in less than 6 hours, and check up before then too." he reminded him. 

"Ok dad, see you in 6 hours." he told him running out of the house and to his car. His dad had bought a red convertible (Rory's favorite kind in my story) so what better way to surprise her then to drive up in it? He drove to her town, in oblivious to what would really happen at her house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Rory~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had checked the whole house, no sign of her mom anyway. _Well, I could curl up with a good book, _Rory theorized. Although, lately she had had this urge to see either Jess or Tristan again, to her their voice, to- 

Rory was cut out of her thoughts with the phone ringing. 

"Hello? Oh hi Lane, no one's in town, it's so bizarre. My mom is out with Luke; I just thought it would be later. Yes, I did say Luke, isn't it a perfect match? Oh, hold on Lane, I'm getting another call," Rory told her best friend. Pressing a button on her phone Rory put the phone back up to her ear and spoke through it. "Hello?" 

"Rory?" Jess asked.

"Yes, why are you calling? Is-" she started.

"Look, Rory, what i have to say, can't be said over the phone. That's why I called. I'm coming back to Stars Hollow." He told her. "See you then."

With that he hung up and Rory gapped switching back the phone to talk to lane. "Lane you will not believe what just happened…" She didn't have time to tell her as the doorbell rang. "This day is just- nothing else can surprise me today. It has been that weird." Rory told Lane walking to the door. But when she opened the door however, she was surprised and dropped the phone because of it. 

Standing on her porch was Tristan, in the flesh. 

A/N: Should I continue? Reviews are my only inspiration… If you don't review, then I wont continue…. 


	2. Only time will tell…

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls… plain and simple.

A/N: Sorry about the delay, but I had a MAJOR essay due. And now I have another one coming up. Feh, I hate school. 

Chapter 1~ Only time will tell…

***Lane's POV***

Lane stared out of the window as she watched the rain beat against it, mirroring her emotions. She was sitting near her window hugging her legs while crying. 

"Lane, Rory's on the phone!" Lane's mom yelled from downstairs to her.

"Tell Rory I'm not here!" she yelled back turning her attention to the window once again. 

"But, It's Rory, and you are here." her mom reasoned. 

"I don't wanna talk to her!" she yelled back stubbornly. 

"Fine." her mother stated repeating what Lane had instructed her to. "What's gotten into her this time?"

Only time would tell if they could repair the damage…

~~~A Week Earlier~~~

***Rory's POV***

When she opened the door, she was surprised and dropped the phone because of it. Standing on her porch was Tristan, in the flesh. 

"Tristan?" Rory asked, as if she needed conformation of this miracle. 

"Can I come inside?" he asked, indicating to somewhere in the house.

"Uh, sure." Rory answered eyeing the phone and wishing Lane to appear magically around the corner to help her.

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked playing with her hair uncomfortably. She remembered the lat time she had seen him. She had almost been willing to leave Dean for him, almost. 

"I came here to see- no actually, I came back to go to get away form Military school. Plus, I missed everything, I missed you." he answered softly, not exactly sure if he should just come out and say that he cam back to have an actual relationship with her. "So, anything new with you? You know, I'm actually kinda hungry, mind telling me over lunch, unless you had something else to do?" He baited her.

Rory quickly decided in her mind, "Sure." It might, after all, be more enjoyable to catch up on old times than to read a book that she'd read more than 100 times last summer. Extending out his elbow Tristan headed for the door as Rory linked her arm in his. 

__

Maybe this won't be so bad… Rory theorized. But all actions have consequences… 

***Lane's POV***

"Hello? Rory? Rory?" she spoke into the phone. Sighing she hung up the phone and slumped backward on her bed. 

"There's nothing to do!" she yelled after what seemed like an eternity. 

"Mama! Can I go hang out with Rory?" Lane asked, hoping for an excuse to just cruise around town. 

"Have you done your chores?" she asked suspiciously. 

"Yes mama." she answered.

"Fine." she told her, acquiescing to her daughter's request. 

Lane smiled and grabbed her things and practically ran down the stairs. Stopping short however at her door, she grabbed a picture and continued on her way. The picture is not shown fully, but we can see short spiky blonde hair…

***Jess's POV***

"Flight 162 from New York is now arriving." a woman announced over the intercom. Jess stepped off the plane along with more than 85 others. Eyeing what little luggage he had brought he hurried over to obtain it. Grabbing his luggage, he pushed his way pass the other people and hurried out of the airport. _Maybe Luke will let me stay with him. _He thought, but just as easily pushed the thought out of his mind. _Yeah right, not the Luke I saw last time. _

Less than 10 minutes later Jess found himself in Stars Hollow. He drove his car around the town, looking for one place. The Gilmore House. Knowing that neither Luke nor Lorelei would allow him to stay at their place he was going to rely on the hospitality of Lorelei's neighbor. 

"Morrie let him in. Of course you can stay shug." This was the reply Jess got when he asked if he could stay at their house. After unpacking all his things, he went to go find Rory. 

A/N: Review and let me know what you think. Should I even continue this weak attempt at fan fiction? If I get at least 6 reviews then I will continue. 6 is good, but more is better… 


	3. The invite

Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls don't belong to me in real life; it does in my imagination, but only in my imagination. 

A/N: Sorry for the update being so late, I've got lots of stories to update and repost. Bear with me please. Hey does anyone truly know Tristan's last name? If you do (please don't guess) and you say so in a review then I'll post the next chapter up next Friday/Saturday. But, if I get contradictory answers then I might/might not post it, I'm not too sure. 

Chapter 2~ The invite

***Rory's POV***

Walking into Luke's, Rory's arm was still linked with Tristan's as they joked and laughed about semi-stupid things. "Hey Tristan, we're having this part in celebration of Miss Patty's birthday and she was pressuring me into bringing a date. I wasn't gonna bring one, but, uh, do you, would you… not that it would mean that we were dating… it's just…." Rory stumbled along. 

"I'd love to go, when is it?" he asked sitting down looking at the menu. 

It's tomorrow night. I hope that's not too much of an inconvenience to you, what am I saying? Of course it is; one day is too little time to prepare for that sort of thing. I am an idiot I should never have brought it up and so now let's just forget about it, okay?" Rory theorized. 

"No, not okay. I am going; a one-day invite is okay. I'll be there, okay?" he asked tracing his forefinger along her jaw line.

"Umm…"

"Ok, what do you guys want? Who's he?" A voice asked startling Rory out of her trance with Tristan.

"Ah! Luke, back so soon? I didn't uh; I didn't notice you. I thought, uh, I'd like a coffee and a Danish and he would like…"

"I would like a turkey sandwich? And some coffee?" Tristan asked unsure of what they sold here. 

"It an odd combo, but we have it and you are?" Luke asked wearing his usual 'uniform'.

"I'm Tristan, Tristan (insert last name)." Tristan told him. 

"Why does that name sound oddly familiar?" he asked writing down their order. "Oh well." Luke walked away without another word.

"So, what else is there to do in this town?" Tristan asked while waiting for their food to be brought back. 

"Well, not much, but I could…" Rory started before Luke came back with their coffee and her Danish. 

"I could show you around Yale and my dorm." Rory suggested.

"I'm going to Yale too! It's kinda why I came back." Tristan told her. _That and you. _

"Really? Well maybe we'll see each other around campus." Rory laughed. 

"Yeah, maybe." Tristan echoed. 

Rory's cell suddenly rang and Rory answered it while walking away. "Hello? Hold on a sec." Rory told the person. "I have to go outside, I'm not supposed to use my cell phone in here. " Rory told Tristan. Hurrying out before Luke could complain she answered the phone.

"Hello?" Rory asked.

"Hey Rory." Jess answered.

"Hey Jess, where are you?" she asked looking up at the sky while walking away from Luke's diner.

***Jess's POV***

"Look behind you." he told her.

Spinning around, Rory came face to face (almost) with Jess. 

"Jess…hey." was all she could muter. 

"Hey." he echoed stepping closer so they wouldn't have to shout. They were about 3 feet away from each other. "Can we talk? Maybe get something to eat?"

__

Eat, crap! Rory thought. "Look Jess, it was nice seeing you again, but I gotta go." she told him turning around and running away. 

Jess started after her, but stopped after a block. "What's her problem?" he asked out loud. "Might as well go say hi to Luke." Walking back to the diner he trotted up to the door and swung it open. Closing the door behind him he looked around for Luke, but instead found some blonde guy asking Luke where Rory had went. 

***Lane's POV***

Walking around the town, Lane searched for something to do while still holding onto…

"Hey! Where'd it go?" Lane asked referring to the picture. _'It must have fallen from my grasp while I was window-shopping'; _Lane theorized and immediately blamed Taylor for it. 

***Unknown POV***

"Look mommy! A picture!" a boy cried. Running up to it, he picked it up and examined it. It was a picture of a boy with spiked blonde hair. It's Tristan to be more exact, at the tender age of 16.

A/N: So, there you go. Was it worth waiting all that long for? I hope you liked it. Please R&R and tell me what you thought, because hold on to your hats ladies and gentlemen… the plot thickens. 

~Mel~


	4. Trouble Brewing

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, plain and simple. 

A/N: This is a short chapter. 

From: Bolero() 

Ok, you're holding your fic hostage until you get six reviews a chapter? Great, here's hoping I'm the last one you get. First of all, learn how to write a proper sentance. Learn how to fill a plot line. Learn how to write a comprehensive story line. Jumping from POV every other line is more than just annoying, its distracting. Mind you, theres not much worth getting distracted from. You're writing a fic with Tristan in it and you dont even know his last name. It's called research, either do it, or give up. Even better is you stated you don't really like writing Gilmore Girls, I suggest you stop now. Quite frankly... this is the crappest thing I've ever read.

First of all Bolero, learn how to freaking spell and use proper grammar. My sentences _are _proper. You can't even _spell _sentence. Second of all, I _am _filling a plot line and the little "holes" in my storyline are questions that are going to be answered later when you have all the pieces of the puzzle. "Jumping from POV" gives my story variety and different perspectives of my story, and if I got farther on in my story you would understand why I need the different POV's. And Tristan's last name isn't even important. I don't need to do stupid research for my story, it's not gonna follow the Gilmore Girls plot line because how would you differentiate it from the actual story, also that would be plagiarism. And you know what? No one forced you to read this. Quite frankly I would have more respect for your review if you had an account or some stories. You don't even have an account here. If your used to the normal clichéd stories then its not my fault. I don't unhesitatingly acquiesce to writing the same perspective and the same twists and turns as a lot of Gilmore Girls writers. Quite frankly, your review was the crappiest and the stupidest review, I have _ever _gotten. 

****

Chapter 3~ Trouble brewing 

***Rory's POV***

Rory ran not even bothering to look behind her as she made her way to Lane's. She had meant to go back to Tristan, but had surprised herself when she started heading the other way. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a voice.

"Baby, put that down. You have no clue where that picture was? Put it down now! Come on, put it down!" the mom yelled. Rory walked up to the woman and helped her release the picture form the boy's clasp.

"Where did you get this?" Rory demanded staring at the picture. "Where did you get this?"

"Sweetie, do you know the man in the picture?" the woman asked. "Sweetie?"

Rory looked at her, confused, and she took off, continuing to Lane's house. 

***Jess's POV***

He walked up to the boy and spun him around. "How do you know Rory?" he demanded

"Who are you?" Tristan asked.

"How do you know Rory?" Jess asked again.

"What's it to you lover-boy?" Tristan asked.

"How do you know her?" Jess demanded pushing Tristan.

"She went to my school, weirdo." Tristan retorted.

"Ass!" Jess yelled punching Tristan.

***Lane's POV***

She paced back and forth wondering where she could have dropped it, when she saw Rory running towards her house, holding something in her hand. "What the.." Lane spoke out loud, perplexed. 

A/N: Told you it was short, review and tell me what you thought. 


	5. Making a bad situation worse

Disclaimer: I don't own a Genie so therefore, I don't own Gilmore Girls or nay of it's characters whether they are past/present/future. 

A/N: Sorry, my anger over Bolero prolonged the update of the story. Thanks for the uplifting reviews, most of you guys. 

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Chapter 4~Making a bad situation worse 

***Rory's POV***

She knocked gently on the door as she awaited it's opening. She stared at the picture intently. _It has to be someone else, it has to be. _She thought stubbornly. But, no matter how much she denied it, the truth of the matter was, the face was too similar to be someone else. 

"Hello? Oh hi Rory, Lane's not here right now." Lane's mom greeted. 

"Oh hi, she isn't well that too bad. Well, nice seeing you again." Rory echoed and walked away as the door closed. 

__

Well, I cant go back and talk to Tristan, how am I gonna explain it to him? She wondered. _Better just go home and see if mom's home. She'll know what to do. _

***Tristan's POV***

He returned a punch with 2 times the amount of force Jess had delivered and sent Jess flying over a few tables. 

This caught the attention of the guy wit the backwards baseball cap and he came running over. Hey! Hey! Hey! Stop it right now!" he yelled pushing Tristan away from Jess. 

Tristan began to push look away when someone else intervened.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" a woman yelled pulling Jess back from hitting Tristan.

Tristan stopped resisting once he recognized her. "Hey Lorelei" he greeted. 

"Tristan, what are you doing back here? I thought you were at Military School?" Lorelei asked walking up to him. 

"Military School? I thought you said you went to school with Rory." Jess questioned. 

"I said I went to school with her, not 'go' to school with her." Tristan commented. 

"You're looking for Rory?" Lorelei asked. She went over it in her head if it was a good idea for her to tell him where she was. 

***Lane's POV***

She hurried after Rory and found herself at her best friend's house. Actually it was now her home away from home, but who cared about the technical stuff? She had tried to get Rory's attention, but she had been too far away. Now as she stepped upon the lawn of said friend she attempted to catch her breath. 

"Ror- Ror-Rory" she called between breaths as she hurried up the steps of the familiar house. But it was too late as the brunette had already entered the house and closed the door. 

She knocked gently on the door and waited as she heard Rory hurry to open the door. 

The door opened a few seconds later and Rory smiled as she realized who it was. She greeted her with a "Hey" and a hug. 

"Hey Rory, I noticed you had something in your hand earlier? What was it?" she asked baiting her friend. 

"Ya, sure, come in." she told her, closing the door and walking to her room. Rory opened her mouth to speak when Lane practically pounced on her while she continued to ask Rory to go get te picture. 

"Ok, ok, ok, I'm going." she told her. "Why's it so important to you? I mean it…"

"I'm just curious. Why, is it a secret or something?" Lane asked. 

"Lane, it's ok, I was just wondering." Rory commented picking up the picture. 

She glanced downward at the picture before handing it over to her best friend. 

Lane's face as she viewed the picture grew from one of shock to confusion. _How did Rory get the picture? _She shrugged it off and decided to play it off. "Did what-his-face give you this?" she asked casually. 

"Tristan? No. I found it out in the middle of the street in the hands of some boy. The mom told him to put it down and tried to get it way from him. I helped her and eventually ran off with the picture." Rory explained.

"What were you doing in the middle of the street?" Lane asked. 

"Oh, I was just coming form meeting Tristan." Rory told her. "Tristan!" 

Lane looked behind her and saw an empty doorway.

"Are you ok? I mean, have you been in Paris's cabinet or taken any pills that weren't yours?" Lane asked worried for her seemingly crazy friend. 

"No I'm not crazy, it's just that, I left Tristan at Luke's, I, I ran off. I gotta go apologize." Rory started.

***Rory's POV***

"Slow down, look is he just staying here for the night? Hold on, I'm hungry" Lane told her getting up, heading for the kitchen. Rory jumped off her bed after her as she answered her question.

"No, he's gonna go to school at Yale. Actually, he' going with me to Miss Patty's party…" she trailed off as she saw the sad look in Lane's face. They were supposed to go dateless. No strings attached, just plain old girl fun. They had decided. 

Lane stared at her for a second. "You know, suddenly, I'm not so hungry." With that she hurried out of the house. 

"Lane!" Rory called and stopped short at the door because when she had opened it Lane had already took off. 

***Lorelei's POV***

"Hey, listen up and sit down. You two aren't going anywhere near my daughter with those attitudes. So, if you wanna see her you'd better lose them. And I'd better not see you by my house 20 minutes later claiming the attitude's gone. I'm not stupid." Lorelei lectured. She smiled up at Luke and greeted him. "Hey Luke."

"Hey Lorelei." he echoed and stopped himself short of giving her a hug when he remembered Jess. 

Tristan left the diner to sleep on "his attitude". _What a bunch of bull, _he thought walking to his home away from home. If only he had slept on it a little bit more…

A/N: Eh, Sorry for te late update. But like I said up above, Bolero had me feeling really bad. But you know what Bolero, it doesn't matter because you're not man/woman enough to get an account here so that people can criticize your work. And who do you think you are? Steven Spielberg? William Shakespeare? I thought not. So, you wanna turn on the flaming? Bring it on. Because now, it just makes me laugh. For the rest of you, thanks for the uplifting reviews!   


~LilsurferSango~


	6. Miss Patty’s Party

Disclaimer: See the previous chapters. 

A/N: Thanks so much LizzieBeBlue for telling me his last name, you rock! Sorry for the late update. And the plot thickens…

Suggest listening: miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson

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Chapter 5~ Miss Patty's Party

***Lane's POV***

I stopped running once I was out of sight of her house. I wasn't sure I wanted to forgive her just yet, but I wanted to. I couldn't blame her for wanting to go with Tristan to the party. I'd only had 2 boyfriends. _Which is more then I've had. _I thought angrily. _But, She doesn't know, how can I blame her when she doesn't know how I feel about him. Maybe, I'll come to the party later on and we can hang out. Yeah, that's what I'll do. _I decided as I approached my house.

Miss independent  
Miss insufficient  
Miss keep your distance, mmmm

*** Rory's POV***

I walked towards mom's room and opened her closet. I wasn't sure what I wanted to wear, but I wanted to wear something that would impress Tristan. _Since when have you ever cared what people think of you? Who are you Madelyn? _I cleared this thought form my head as I searched through her clothes. I wanted something that looked good, but didn't look like I tried too hard. _Why do you even care what he thinks? _I asked myself? 

Miss unafraid  
Miss out of my way  
Miss don't let a man interfere

Because you care for him more then a friend. My subconscious answered me. I picked out a blue skirt with red flowers on it and a red silk top with long sleeves a slightly low cut front. _No I don't! _I argued. But it didn't matter, because when you were fighting with yourself you knew the truth. _Yes you do. _I gave in as I changed. I grabbed her hair with one hand and stared at herself in the mirror. _I'll leave it down. _I decided and brushed it. I was about to put on perfume when I stopped. _What am I doing? This is stupid it's just a simple get-together. You're acting like it's a date. _I chastised myself. _That's because you want it to be. You want- _I lifted my hands to my head to stop the noise and the thoughts. Spraying the perfume, I heard the doorbell. 

__

Whoa, miss on her own  
Miss almost grown  
Miss never let a man help her off her throne

"Coming." I called. 

Mom had left an hour earlier with Luke. _I'm sure Jess isn't too comfortable about this. _I thought. Walking to the door, I opened it and sure enough Tristan was there. 

"You look.. Beautiful." he told me, looking me over and smiling. "But… where's your shoes?" 

"Oh." was my brilliant reply. I had forgotten to put shoes on. And now that I saw Tristan I was glad I hadn't worn something too fancy because he was just in plain clothes. He wore a blue jacket and jeans with boots. They looked like boots, at least. I couldn't really tell. 

"I'll be right back." I told him dashing inside. I picked the first shoes that matched, turned off the light and hurried to meet him. Slipping on the shoes I realized that they were blue sandals. They elevated my only a little, but Tristan seemed really happy with them. _Stop doing that! You don't care what he thinks! Ok, maybe you do, but it shouldn't affect your thinking! _I shook my head clear of the thoughts. 

__

So, by keeping her heart protected,   
She'll never, ever feel rejected  
Little miss apprehensive  
Said ooh, she fell in love

Since it was only a walking distance away everyone was walking. 

"I'm glad I didn't wear high heels." I told him.

"You? In high heels. Now I'd need a camera for that one." Tristan joked. 

"What's wrong with the idea of me in heels?" I asked. 

"It's just, you never gave off the attitude of someone who would ever wear them unless forced too." he replied. 

__

What is this feeling taking over  
Thinking a word could open the door  
Surprise, it's time to feel what's real  
What happened to miss indepent's no longer need to be defensive  
Goodbye or you will love, it's true

"Hey, well, maybe I'll wear them one day and you can take a picture and then I'll wear them again." I laughed steeping closer to him. 

"So, what made you decide on this outfit?" he asked. 

"What's wrong with this outfit?" I questioned. "And what makes you want to discuss fashion?"

"Just… curious." he answered coolly. 

__

Miss guided heart  
Miss play it smart  
Miss if you wanna use that line, you better not start

"I couldn't decide on what to wear, wasn't sure." I told him truthfully.

"You didn't know what to wear? I had 1 day to prepare." he joked. 

I looked down at the road. "Sorry."

"Look, it's ok, it nice to be semi-spontaneous sometimes, stirs things up." he comforted. 

"We're here" I told him. 

__

Oh, but she miscalculated  
She didn't wanna end up jaded  
And this miss decided not to miss out on true love

Lights were strewn all across town. A huge banner lie in the center with the words "Happy birthday Miss Patty" displayed across it. A cake lay on the table below it. The tables had pink and blue tablecloths with the dancers in the middle. Music was playing somewhere. 

"Hey Rory!" Someone greeted.

"Hey mom!" I welcomed. 

***Lorelei's POV***

I hugged my daughter while giving Tristan a deadly glare. He gave me a look of innocence. 

"Are you here with…" Rory trailed off and then spied Luke.

"Yea." I answered her. 

__

So, by changing a misconception,   
She went in a new direction  
And found inside, she felt a connection  
She fell in love

"Hey Lorelei, do you wanna, you know…" Luke trailed off motioning to the area with people dancing. 

"Do I wanna dance? I swear, it's like the word's not in his vocabulary." I joked with my daughter. "Sure. I'll be back." 

***Miss Patty's POV***

"Later sweetie." I called and spotted Rory. "Rory darling, come here."

"Happy birthday Miss Patty." she greeted.

"Hello." a young man told me.

"And who is this fine fellow you have with you?" I asked walking up to him. "Ooo, not too bad. Not bad at all."

__

What is this feeling taking over  
Thinking a word could open the door  
Surprise, it's time to feel what's real   
What happened to miss independent's no longer need to be defensive  
Goodbye or you will love, it's true (will love, it's true)

Rory looked slightly embarrassed, but I brushed it off. 

"his name is Tristan, Tristan DuGrey." (A/N: Thanks so much LizzieBeBlue for telling me his last name, you rock!) Rory introduced him. 

"Tristan, is it the same Tristan…" I trailed off. 

Rory nodded and grabbed his hand. "We've got to go Miss Patty. Nice seeing you." 

***Lane's POV***

I walked out of my house after explaining to my mother where I was going. I had walked a total of 5 feet before I was confronted by Taylor.

"Hello Miss Lane. What are you doing out here all by yourself? You could be mugged, attacked, or worse. You cant just walk around all willy-nilly with the hoodlum Jess back in town. Word on the street is he's here to see Rory. Now, you tell her that she needs to tell him to go home. We, as a town, were actually going months without suspicion or crime happening." Taylor greeted.

"You mean getting his car egged?" I asked trying to walk away form Taylor.

"I mean gnomes being stolen, the brainwashing of good little girls, crimes like those!" Taylor cried. 

"Why don't you tell him?" I asked, looking for someone to talk to, to get away from Taylor. 

"He wont listen to me, hoodlums like him never do. They just don't respect people anymore. They nerve of some people. Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I see someone else who needs a scolding about walking all alone at night." Taylor , told me, crossing the street. I saw Kurt look at Taylor and start to walk away. 

I hurried away before Taylor decided he wanted to talk to me again. I was gonna talk to Rory, talk things over. I mean, It might not have been her fault, he could have asked her and Rory, being the person she was, said yes. I mean, if her grandparents asked her to go to a meeting that would take up her whole birthday, she wouldn't say no. She would want to, but she wouldn't. I spotted the lights coming from the party and hurried up. 

***Tristan's POV**

Rory grabbed my hand and led me away from Miss Patty. 

"Look Tristan, it's obvious, your not having fun here. And I'm sorry for dragging you along. You can leave if you want to." Rory told me.

"I don't wanna leave and I am having fun." I argued.

"What?" she asked confused.

"I am having fun because I am here with you." I told her.

__

When miss independent walked away  
No time for love that came her way  
She looked in the mirror and thought today  
What happened to miss no longer afraid?  
It took some time for her to see  
How beautiful love could truly be  
So miss independent had more to say  
I'm so glad I've finally seen

***Lane's POV***

Spotting Rory and Tristan I tried waving at them, but they failed to see me. I ran towards them not noticing any of the ominous signs telling me to turn back. 

***Rory's POV***

"Tristan, what are you saying?" I asked. 

"Rory, I love you, and I wanna be with you." He told me leaning in for a kiss. Wrapping my arms around him, I kissed Tristan and didn't notice my best friend standing less than 5 feet away.

  
_What is this feeling taking over  
Thinking a word could open the door  
Surprise, it's time to feel what's real  
What happened to miss independent's no longer need to be defensive  
Goodbye or you will love, it's true (will love, it's true)_

***Lane's POV***

Tears welling up in my eyes, I backed away from the scene, just wanting to run away and pretend this never happened._ Rory was my best friend and we shared a connection. That connection should have hinted to her how I felt about him, so why was she doing this? Key word Lane, was. _I thought angrily. Turning around, completely I ran off , not once looking back.

***Rory's POV***

Breaking the kiss, I noticed something off to the side and when I looked I saw Lane running away. _She must have saw us kissing, but why was she so mad? Unless she had feeling for Tristan. _I realized.

I gotta go." I told Tristan running after my best friend, calling her name. "Lane! Lane wait up! Lane!"

__

Miss independent

A/N: So, review? No review, no update. Simple as that. 


	7. Just Friends

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, plain and simple.

A/N: Oh how we all hate to hear the phrase, "just friends"

Chapter 6-Just Friends

A week later

Rory's POV

I had just gotten back from Yale with my best bud still on my mind. I plumed down on my bed and stared at the phone. _Maybe a week is long enough, I hope she's forgiven me. _I picked up the phone and dialed her number.

Lane's POV

I stared out of the window as I watched the rain beat against it, mirroring my emotions. I was sitting near her window hugging my legs while crying.

"Lane, Rory's on the phone!" my mom yelled from downstairs to me.

"Tell Rory I'm not here!" I yelled back turning her attention to the window once again. _How could she do that to me?_

"But, It's Rory, and you are here." my mom reasoned.

"I don't wanna talk to her!" I yelled back stubbornly. _Couldn't she see the signs?_

"Fine." my mother stated repeating what I had instructed her to. "What's gotten into her this time?"

Only time would tell if they could repair the damage…

Rory's POV

"Why doesn't she want to talk to me?" I asked out loud. I crumpled back onto the bed, tears silently streaming down my cheek as I wondered if our friendship could be repaired. I heard a knocking on the door and I got up slowly to answer it.

Jess's POV

I stared at the window as I waited for someone to answer the door. The door opened a few moments later with Rory, looking disheveled and depressed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. She was dressed in baggy blue pants and a faded blue t-shirt.

"I heard what happened and I don't understand all of it, but I'm here to help you out. Rory, I don't know this Tristan all too well, but if he's getting in the way of one of your closet relationships then you should break off anything and everything you have going with him. It's not worth it. So, I dropped by to get you, and go to Luke's to maybe get a Danish and coffee for you. Maybe it could be like date to get over him" I told her, baiting her to tell me just how deeply she cared for this Jess fellow.

"I guess I could go with you to Luke's. I mean, if this Tristan thing doesn't work out it'll be nice to have a guy to talk this over with. So, sure, I'd love to go on a date with you to Luke's as just friends." Rory told me, a small smile appearing on her face.

The phrase '_Just friends' _kept replaying in my mind, wounding me the more I kept thinking about it.

"Just friends, that'll be great, so I can wait while you get ready." I told her, keeping the look of disappointment off my face. Even if we had to start over as just friends at first, I would try my best to make sure that our status as just friends was only temporary. Even if that included getting this Tristan fellow out of the picture.

A/N: Sorry for the late update. Please read and review.


	8. A harsh reality

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

A/N: and the drama continues…

Summary: When being together with Tristan might mean losing the friendships she has with her mother and Lane and her home, will Rory decide that it is too much and come running to Jess or is she willing to deal with the harsh reality.

Chapter 7 A harsh reality

Jess's POV

By now we had reached Luke's, but what Rory had said was still on my mind. She seemed to have gotten over it, so I didn't bring it back up again. I spotted Lane staring into Luke's and glaring at Rory. When she noticed me staring at her, she quickly started walking away.

"Hey, I'll be right back. I'll see what I can do to fix this whole thing." I told her hurrying out of the building. "Hey Lane, wait up."

Lane turned around and glared at me. "what do you want?"

"I wanna talk to you about Rory. If, she stopped seeing, and hanging around with Tristan, would you want to be friends with her? Think about this first, you must have feelings for him, or at least your jealous of the _numerous_ boyfriends Rory's had and that doesn't seem fair. If she is as good of a friend as she claims she is, then she should know that no boy is worth a lost friendship, so therefore she should stop seeing him for the sake of your friendship. I mean, you _would _do that for her, so why can't she do that for you. Anyways, that's just my opinion. Well, think it over before you do anything. I gotta get back. Later." I told her, walking away smiling. Hey, it would work out for most of our benefits, just not Tristan. I couldn't have him here, messing up my chances with Rory and plus Rory will get back, next to her mom, her best friend in the world. Opening the door, I walked back into the diner.

"what did she say?" Rory asked expectantly.

"We talked about things and she says she'll think it over and get back to you later." I told her.

"Really? Thanks you so much Jess. That was a great thing to do." Rory complimented me.

"Hey, what are friends for?" I asked, giving her a hug that turned into a kiss.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked, pulling away from me. "_just friends _remember?"

"Sorry, I got a little carried away." I told her.

A few hours later

"Hey Mom, what do you think about me dating Tristan?" I asked sitting on the couch.

"That was random Rory. Why don't you just make your 'Pro and Con' list like you always do? Well, maybe you don't have to. I mean, it's not like your actually considering dating the guy." Lorelei laughed.

I sat silent before telling her. "Mom, I think I might be in love with him."

"Rory, he just came back into town, and before that he constantly tried to break you and Dean up. Or did you just conveniently forget that?"

"I know that, but its just. It feels right. It-" I started before the phone rang. "I'll get it."

"Hello Rory?" Lane called.

"Oh, hi Lane." I greeted.

"I wanna talk to you. It's about our friendship and the fight. I wanna make a proposition for you." she started.

"ok, go ahead." I told her, thinking it was nothing.

"I'll be your friend again, as long as you agree to stop seeing, talking, and hanging out with Tristan." she told me.

I gulped, faced with the harsh reality that is life.

"Rory?" she asked. "Is it a deal or not?"

A/N: No review, no update. Simple as that.


	9. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Well, we've come to the end of this story and do I know own Gilmore Girls and it's characters? Nope, and I never will.

A/N:

Epilogue

---Rory's POV---

I woke up, stretching as I attempted to get off the couch- and failed horribly. The couch was littered with bodies as was the floor and the other chairs. Everyone had fallen asleep in the living room. Mom had put away the food last night, or what was left of it. I heard the doorbell ring and I made my way through the pile of people. I opened the door and was greeted by Jess.

"I heard what happened between you and Lane and I came to say I'm sorry." Jess greeted, giving me a hug.

"No, Jess .You left me for New York and I was hurt. But I got over you. Then not only do you come back and try to start up our relationship again, but you sabotaged my friendship with Lane. You manipulated her to have me stray from Tristan. He never did anything to me, he didn't have a choice in leaving ._You _did. I never got to make my choice. So, I'm making it now, I'm choosing to slam the door in your face and to stay out of your life for good. I thought that maybe we could be friends, but our friendship doesn't work. Every time I was with you I kept think 'Something's gotta give, this doesn't feel right.' Bye!" I told him, slamming the door closed. Well, at least I tried to. The door didn't close fast enough to make as much noise as I wanted to.

"I'm proud of you Rory." my mom told me, giving me a hug. "That must have been hard to say that to someone you once loved."

"It was, but it's ok, because I'm with Tristan and he'll treat me right." I answered.

"Or, he'll learn the furry of 'the mother.'" mom joked.

"Ooh, 'the mother' sounds like some roller coaster." I joked.

"Or some evil monster that only attacks bad ex boyfriends named Jess." she joked, tickling me.

---Lorelei's POV---

"Luke." I stated, releasing Rory from me grasp. "What do you have in your hand?"

"Rory, could you, excuse us for a moment?" Luke asked.

Rory smiled, hurrying into the living room.

"Lorelei, I've fixed a lot of things for you, you, you make me happy, and I wanna be with you and all that other stuff." Luke told me.

"Are doing what I think you're doing?" I asked, smiling.

I watched as Luke bent down on one knee, "Lorelei, will you, will you marry me?"

El Fin! (The End)

A/N: Comments on the whole story? Fav parts?


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